Ometepe Island Nicaragua One of the highlights of Nicaragua, Ometepe Island, or La Isla de Ometepe, should not be missed on a trip through Nicaragua. Get to the island on a ferry boat ride from Rivas, crossing the choppy waters of Lake Cocibolca. The twin Volcano peaks Concepcion and Maderas rise out of the lake …
The sun rises slowly but the noises of morning come suddenly. I’m used to hearing roosters alarm sleepers that morning has risen, but here a large community (or so it sounds) is quacking and twittering “get up, get up.” As I stand in the yard a parade of animals make their debut, one at a time. A pig is scoffing his nose in the dirt and in seconds a chicken and her chicks come shuffling through in a line. They flip leaves over to see if a worm or bean lays underneath. A dog who has seen better days wanders through looking for any resemblance of breakfast. It dawns on me, poor dogs, that they don’t have it as easy as the other animals because they don’t eat grass or leaves.
“I tried to buy a ticket too, but they’ve run out of seats,” says the only other Gringo on the bus. There has to be 200 of us packed into this former American school bus. And without a ticket, this means we’ll be standing for the two-hour haul over the mountains to Matagalpa. This is our first time on an “express” bus, opposed to the “ordinario” or “chicken” buses which do not require an advance purchase or have seat numbers.
It’s been one week since we were robbed at knife-point in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Since then I’ve had a multitude of emotions and feelings: anger, frustration, forgiveness, vengefulness, regret. As a traveler or tourist you expect to get your pocket picked on a crowded bus, you expect to get your purse jacked in
Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua We got a fresh start on December 1 out of San Juan del Sur, juiced up at Margarita’s restaurant and hopped on the chicken bus, like in the movies, right as it pulled out of town. We slumped into a sticky plastic seat and low and behold, our Japanese surfing friend …
Blog of a Modern Nomad The border crossing at Peñas Blancas is the typical chaos: money changes with huge wads of cordobas, dollars, and colones, a mother and son beggar team, long lines of tired Nicaraguan laborers, and a nun asking for offerings. Before and after the 200-meter Noman’s Land one tractor trailer after another …
We have been lucky in many ways so far in Central America, the first being that my Costa Rican friend, Jorge, picked us up from the airport. I guess because I was raised in a small town, I noticed quickly how houses had fences around the properties securing them from the street and people …
Independent travel tips and inspiration delivered straight to your inbox.
One e-mail per month - No spam. We promise.
